The Case of The Boy Who Lived
by Raduga
Summary: A crossover between Harry Potter and The Adventures of Shirley Holmes. More theories less information and well, even bigger lack of answers...
1. Shirley arrives

Disclaimer: All the characters in this fanfic belong either to the wonderful JK Rowling or to whoever owns the characters from the TV show The Adventures of Shirley Holmes. I do not make a profit of this and it's mere existence id for FUN.

A/N: This is a crossover between the wonderful book Harry Potter to the wonderful TV show The Adventures of Shirley Holmes. All the characters are grown ups already and will behave as such. I am aware that chronologically in the year of 2002 Shirley and Bo would be 17, while Harry, Hermione and Ron 21, and Ginny 20, but I decided to skip that little detail. Like many others. Also I haven't got a beta reader and I really, really need one. Please be my Beta reader! Oh and Reviews are most welcome.

A woman got into a taxi on Heathrow airport. She wore a long fashionable dark dress, and a coat, her eyes were covered with sunglasses, though the whether outside was far from sunny. She didn't have any luggage, only a small back she carried in her hand and refused, when the driver suggested it, to put it in the trunk. 

"Where to?" The driver asked casually.

"London." She said shortly, her accent strange, and confusing. It wasn't American, British, Canadian, or Australian, but it was obvious English was her first language. 

They drove silently, neither of them saying a thing, until they finally reached London.

"What street you said you needed?" The driver asked.

"I didn't say." The woman smiled. "Baker street 221b."

The driver smirked. "The house of the famous Sherlok Holmes, want to see the museum, ha?"

The woman just kept smiling. 

The taxi arrived to the address above and the woman stepped out of it, paying to the driver. She stood on the sidewalk silently for a moment, holding tightly her bag and looking around her. Her gaze finally stopped on a man who was walking back and fourth near the entrance to Baker Street no. 221b. 

The man kept glancing to either side of the street. The woman smiled knowingly and sighed. The moment she did the man stopped walking and turned to her direction. With her free hand the woman lifted the sunglasses from her eyes and for a long moment their eyes locked. For those few seconds they both were fourteen again.

The man spoke first, half in disbelief, half in shock. "Shirley?"

Her smile widened. "Nice to see you again, Bo." 

He took a few quick steps and she was caught in his embrace. She put one hand around him as well. They both smiled.

He finally drew back. "Wow, Shirley… I…" He sighed contently. "It's so…Surprising to see you again… You look great."

She smiled. "Thanks, but you were the one who asked me to come."

He nodded. "Yes, but still, twelve years are a long time…" He took her bag from her. "Here let me take this for you."

She gave him her bag freely and shook her head, still smiling. "Too long."

He nodded as well. "I know. I should've called, or written, or done something… Come on, my car is just down the street." 

They got into Bo's car. Shirley sitting next to Bo and the bag lying behind, in the back seats.

"So, what was so important that you called for me so urgently?" She asked as they sat.

He sighed deeply. "It's a long story, Shirley, and it isn't mine, so wait until we get to my flat and everything will become clear, I promise."

Shirley shifted curiously in her seat. "How's your business?"

He sighed. "Fine, fine. How's your?" He laughed. "Never mind, I know how it is… You're a world class detective now, Shirley." He smiled tenderly. "It's good to know you haven't forgot the little people."

"Bo." She smiled as well, putting her sunglasses back. "I would never forget you."

He nodded. "How's Matt?" He asked suddenly.

Shirley sighed. "There's no Matt, we broke." 

"I'm sorry to hear."

"We were just too much alike. We couldn't think properly when we were together and neither of us is nothing without our brains." She leaned back. "No matter how much we loved each other we couldn't let our intelligence waste because of it."

"So it was mutual."

She laughed bitterly. "I guess. I know I loved him, and I know he loved me, I guess it just wasn't strong enough."

Bo smiled. "Don't worry, everything will turn up best, I hope."

"So do I." She said. But still she wondered if she would come rushing to Matt after one phone call like she has for Bo.

"We're here." Bo announced, and stepped out of the car. He opened Shirley's door and let her out as well, taking her bag for her.

They went up the stairs to his apartment. And he opened the door letting her into the leaving room. 

The moment they entered it a woman went straight to Bo and hugged him tightly.

"Any news?" He asked, comfortingly stroking her bushy hair.

"No." She said silently, burying her face in his chest further. 

"Shh..." He comforted her. And then when she finally came back to her senses, he turned to Shirley. "Hermione, meet Shirley Holmes, detective." He smiled. "Shirley, meet Hermione Granger, my fiancée."

Hermione tried to smile. "Nice to meet you." 

Shirley shook her head in response and looked around the room. There was another woman seated on the couch, she too looked like she was going to cry, only she was very freckled and red haired, so she couldn't be a relative of Bo's fiancée. There were also two older men in the room. One had mostly gray hair, though brown strands were visible in it as well, he had gray eyes, and looked controlled. He sat on an armchair. The other one kept facing in the room, he had black and gray hair and his eyes were a burning black.

Bo introduced them on turn. "The other lady is Ginny Weasley, and the gentlemen are Remus Lupin and Sirius Black." He gestured towards Shirley. "This is the known Shirley Holmes." 

Shrley walked into the room and sat near Ginny. "I was called here urgently by my childhood friend Bo," She said. "But you probably already know it. I was not yet told why."

Hermione sighed, and holding Bo's hand tightly she spoke. "We called you because we had no idea what to do, we tried every possible way we know, but we couldn't solve this, she put out an old torn bit of parchment and handed it to Shirley. It's the only clue to the whereabouts of a friend of ours, Mr. Harry Potter." 


	2. Talks, talks

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and the other characters from HP belong to the honorable and fantastic JK Rowling(J K Rowling biography ), while Shirley Holmes and Bo Sawchuk belong to the creators of "The Adventures of Shirley Holmes " and if I'm not mistaken they are Ellis Iddon, Phil Meagher, Susin Nielsen and also to the actor who played them; Meredith Henderson and John White. I am making no profit of this what so ever. And if, by any chance you decide I'm copying this fanfic from someone else's, well I'm not, but write me at Mishmeshim@hotmail.co.il if you think so. 

Dedication: To my seven and a half reviewers. You really made writing a pleasure for me. I believe feedback is everything, and after believing I'd get none (because there are so many HP fanfics out there and because I didn't know there was a SH community) your reviews were a very, very pleasant surprise. To Ola, who might gawk at me and say she can't understand the Shirley/Bo relationship since she didn't see the 3rd and 4th seasons, but she knows she believes in it as well... And to Sparklz, who beta-readed for me THANK YOU! 

A/N: The second chapter is up, as you've noticed… And it contains the riddle, which is needed to be solved in order to find Harry. I'd be delighted to hear ideas of where he is or of who abducted him, since it's someone which anybody should know if he reads this fanfic. The answer will appear in the next chapter. 

Chapter two- Talks, talks 

A few hours later Shirley was sitting on the double bed in Bo's guestroom, wearing nothing but her nightgown and rereading the parchment that Hermione gave her. She studied it again.

__

In death lies life and Victory. 

The Boy who Lived may and shall be

The man who forced the Darkness fade

But wait, the Price is still not paid. 

A mother's spell, A curse, A love, A fight, A light, A scar 

Tears and ruins and Trust long Lost.

True love and friendship will find what has cost the most.

Shirley sighed. She couldn't understand even half of it. But maybe it was because she didn't know Harry Potter. She decided she would talk to Hermione tomorrow and try to uncover the note's secret together with Bo's fiancée. 

She sighed again. Bo was engaged. Her best friend Bo was engaged, and she didn't feel happy for him. Hermione looked like a nice woman, and it was obvious she and Bo were very close and intimate with each other, but something in it bothered Shirley. She couldn't put her finger on it, and she couldn't find anything in Hermione's behavior that would make her unworthy of Bo, but still, Bo's engagement bothered her. 

Someone knocked on her door and Shirley looked up. She found Bo, still fully dressed, standing at her door and smiling at her. She smiled back.

"Comfortable?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's great." She moved a little to make some room for him to sit. "Come in."

He came in and sat by her side. "Any progress?" 

She shook her head. "I just can't figure out the meaning." She showed him the note. "You see the words that start with a capital letter, I'm sure they are the ones, which point the identity of the sender. While the 'Boy who Lived' and 'man who forced' are probably come to explain what actions that Harry Potter did caused his disappear. But I can't figure why the first phrase has capital letters and the second doesn't."

"The words 'The Boy who Lived'." Bo said silently. "Came to describe Harry in his childhood, and it was always written in capital letters."

"What phrase came to describe him when he became an adult?" Shirley asked.

"I can't say." Bo sighed deeply. "Let it be for the night, Shirley. I'll talk to Hermione and I hope this would be easier to solve in the morning."

"Bo." She said strictly. "You're not telling me something."

He sighed again. "I know, I'm sorry, but I have no right to reveal it. You'll know in the morning." He kissed her lightly on the cheek. "Thanks for coming, Shirley."

"I'll do anything for an old friend." She smiled.

He smiled back, though sadly. "I knew you would." And left the room.

"Time to weak up, sunshine." Hermione heard Bo whispering in her ear. She opened her eyes slowly and found Bo staring at her in an odd way.

"What's wrong?" She asked smiling.

He sighed. "Nothing… Everything…" He sat on the bed next to her. "I don't know."

She stood up and started dressing. "You know what?"

"Hmmm?" He sounded as though he was thinking of something else.

"I feel really hopeful about this friend of yours. I can't say why, I was never really good at Divination or any of that 'Unfogging the Future' rubbish, but I know she would help us find Harry."

Bo sighed again. "I've wanted to talk to you about it. Shirley… Well, she already started working and she… Um, having problems."

Hermione turned to face him, bewildered. "What kind of problems?" She asked slowly.

"Well," Bo looked up at her. "She needs to know more about Harry, I figured out she'd have to talk to you and Sirius and all that, but… Herm, love…" He stood up and took her in his arms. "She needs to know about magic."

Hermione frowned at him and then put her head on his chest. "I guess you're right. I just hope she won't freak out like some people did."

"Please," Bo laughed. "Let's not get into that now."

Hermione smiled. "Why not? I can remember it perfectly, something about me going mad and hoping you won't be turned into a book in our next fight, wasn't it?"

Bo laughed. "Please, give me a break, how a guy supposed to react when his girlfriend tells him she's a witch?"

"Say how wonderful it is?" Hermione broke the embrace and headed to the kitchen.

Bo followed her. "I'll remember that next time."

"What next time?" Hermione asked dangerously.

"The next time you decide to tell me something as big as that." Bo smirked.

"Actually, I did want to tell you something…" She took eggs out of the fridge and started making breakfast.

"What?" Bo asked offhandedly as he took out three mugs from the cupboard.

"Ron's is coming this afternoon." She said quietly.

Bo turned to face her quickly. "What?!" He just starred at her back. "You're kidding."

"No." Hermione didn't even turn to face him. "You know he's just as good a friend of Harry's as I am, maybe even more, all this male bonding crap, you know. And he does have a right to be here, and make an effort to find Harry. Anyway, Ginny is his sister, I think him coming here to be with her is the right thing to do."

"Oh, how wonderful!" Bo exclaimed sarcastically. "But are you sure he comes to be with Ginny, or is he coming to _comfort _you?" 

"What did you mean by that?" Hermione snapped.

"You know damn well what I mean." Bo matched her anger. "Sex, Hermione, and stop being such a saint!"

"I know you meant sex, Bo!" She was almost shouting. "What I can't understand is why you think I'd let him." 

Bo shook his head and turned away from her. "Because you have history, Hermione, you know each other in every possible way, and I… I can't match that kind of bonding." He sighed deeply. "You haven't seen him in three years, what makes you think you won't be eager to meet him, who said you won't have all those long forgotten emotions coming back to the surface?" 

"You're insecure." She sounded both surprised and amused. 

"So what?" He snapped. "That's natural. I have all the right to be nervous because your ex-boyfriend decided to pay us a visit."

"That's cruel." Hermione turned back to the oven. "He's here to help find Harry."

Bo grimaced, but she didn't see it. 

"Anyway, you've got your ex-girlfriend, I have every right to bring my ex-boyfriend."

"Yes, except I never dated Shirley."

"Oh, Bo, honestly!" Hermione laughed. "You want to tell me you've never had a crush on her, spending so much time with each other?"

"No, we were just friends!" Bo smiled tr. 

"Not even a kiss?" Hermione intrigued.

Bo growled. "!"

"Oh, Bo." She hugged him on her way to the table, in intention to put eggs in the plates. "You make me feel so much better. I knew there was a reason I kept you."

"You're awful today." Bo pointed out.

"Aren't I always awful?" Hermione stopped the embrace and, putting the eggs where they should be long ago, started making coffee.

"Good point." Bo answered grinning, but Hermione didn't answer. 

"Morning." A muffled, yet amused voice sounded from the opening. 

"Good morning, Shirley!" Bo said soundly, making Hermione acknowledge Shirley as well.

"Oh, good morning." She said smiling apologetically. "I was somewhere else." 

Shirley smiled and sat by the table. "Bo, you promised explanations." She said.

"Well, eat first." Bo answered uneasily.

"No, tell me!" Shirley kept being persistent. 

"Eat!" Bo commanded.

"You promised."

"Later."

"You said I'll know in the morning, now is the morning."

"And you said you'd write, so eat!"

"That hurt." Shirley said silently.

"Well, now you see once again that being annoying makes other people be nasty towards you." 

"I am not, and never was, annoying."

"And in denial as well." Bo answered.

"Tell me or I'll tell Hermione your real name!"

Hermione looked at Bo. "'Bo' isn't your real name?"

Bo sat also, glaring at Shirley. "Cheater." He sighed and looked up at Hermione. "Tell her."

Hermione sat too. "No. I want to know your real name." 

"Hermione!" Bo exclaimed, stared at her. "Be reasonable! I promise to reveal my full name to you later, please tell her."

"And if you lie about your name? You've obviously already done it once, what will stop you from doing it twice?" Hermione inquired. 

"You'll check with Shirley, okay?" Bo answered, annoyed.

"Fine." Hermione looked straight at Shirley. "Ready?"

"Readier than I'll ever be." Shirley answered, both excited and a little in awe.

"Fine." Hermione sighed deeply and giving Bo one less glance started talking. "The thing is, Shirley, Harry can do magic." Shirley raised an eyebrow. "Not the kind of magic that involves getting a bunny out of a hat or something as trivial as that. Harry is a real wizard, a powerful one as that, and so am I. I will prove it, wait a second."

And Hermione left the kitchen in the direction of her and Bo's bedroom leaving a very startled Shirley glaring at Bo.

"Where did she go?" She asked.

"To get her wand." Bo answered matter-of-factly.

"Are you sure your mental health wasn't damaged by Mr. Potter's disappear?" Shirley asked silently.

"Shirley!" Bo said harshly.

"What?"

But before he had the chance to answer Hermione was back holding her wand in her left hand. 

"Look here." She said and moved her wand a few inches up. She only opened her mouth to say the words when the phone rang.

"Wow!" Shirley tried to show some mock enthusiasm. "She made the phone ring!"

"No, the phone is really ringing." Bo answered grimly as another ring sounded from the bedroom. "I'll go answer it." He looked at Hermione. "Continue- time is something we can't afford right now." 

Bo put the receiver to his ear. "Hello?"

"Bo." A rough male voice sounded. "It's Daniel."

"Danny?" Bo was more surprised than angry. "I'm off duty…what's wrong?"

"I'm so sorry I have to do this, mate, it's just…"

"Say it, Danny, it won't kill me…" His voice changed to edgy suddenly "It won't kill me, right? Because if you're planning to…"

"No, nothing like that! It's that girl McCleary uses as a secretary. You know her, she's quite hard to forget; short, tight skirts, very low necklines-"

"Yes, I remember, what about her?" 

"Remember your last column? Instead of giving it to McCleary, she threw it away."

"She did what?" Bo shouted. "I can't write…"

"No one expects you to. Not until tomorrow anyway." Danny answered uneasily. "We'll just have to move our no-columns-for one-week agreement from next week to this one." 

"This means I'll have to write a column for next week." Bo pointed out.

"Yes, I know, I'm really sorry, mate." Danny indeed sounded genuine, which made Bo feel slightly better. 

"I'll manage, I'll come over tomorrow, okay?"

"Yes, that would be great. My best to Hermione, and Bo…" Danny sighed. "I am truly sorry."

"It's okay, bye Danny." And with those words Bo put the receiver back in place.

Bo store back to the kitchen, but stopped at the door, staring at Shirley and Hermione. The two women were calmly sitting by the table, eating, and Hermione was explaining magical ways to found a suspect.

"Well, from what I've read it's easy, since when a wand is being used some magical, invisible dust appears- I'm not sure exactly how, it's physics- and every dust belongs to it's own wand. As there are no two wands alike you can found out who owns the wand checking the wand ingredients, performing a simple spell on the dust and checking the lists in the Ministry of Magic files, or in the shops, if you want to keep it private." Hermione was saying thoughtfully. "The problem is, there was no dust in the whole house when Harry disappeared."

"Is there any other way to disappear, magically?" Shirley asked, transfixed.

"Yes, two. One is apperating, it's wand less magic and any wizard who passed the test at the age of 17 or older can do it. The thing is you can't force someone to apperate, and since it's strong magic it can be tracked and the ministry indeed keeps tracks of apperating. Sirius checked the list there and there was no apperating from anywhere near our flat that day, except for the one I apperated to the Ministry in order to get hold of Sirius and Ginny."

"And the second?" 

"Floo network and powder, it's traveling with the use of fire. And it isn't possible it happened that way either, since there was no floo powder discovered in the room and our fireplace isn't connected to the floo network. Bo finds it disturbing." Hermione looked up to meet Bo's gaze. "Who was that?" 

"Danny, problems at work. I'll stop by there tomorrow." He answered silently.

Hermione stood up and took Bo by the hand. "We'll be just back." And she pulled Bo to the opposite side of the living room. Bo looked down at her, smiling comfortingly.

"She knows what she's doing." He said reassuringly. 

Hermione sighed stepping closer to Bo and put her hands around his neck, making them stand as close to each other as they could. "I know. I'm going to go to Sirius and Remus, ask them to come here, help you two, especially Sirius- he feels helpless. And Remus is the logical one, after all."

"Where then?" Bo asked almost whispering, reaching lower, positioning their faces only and inch or two apart.

"The Borrow, to talk to Ginny." She answered in the same hushed tones.

"And Ron." He acknowledged, reaching down to capture her lips in his.

"Bo…" She moaned in protest before their lips met in a sensational kiss.

Shirley, who stood in the doorway, between the kitchen and the living room turned away swiftly as a pang on jealousy she knew she shouldn't be feeling was thrown brutally in her heart.


	3. Who said libraries are no fun?!

Disclaimer: Okay you know Harry Potter characters is totally JK Rowling's and Shirley and Bo are god know who's. The other people here are either Ola's from her fanfic Cygnus (I'd give you like if I knew it. But I don't so I won't) or Ola's friend who's fic I still need to read. As a whole Josh is Ola's and Ana is this mysterious Karen's. 

Dedication: To Ola who gave life to Joshua Omri Lupin, to whom I'd merry if he were real. And to my best friend Mick, who kept rolling his eyes during the writing of this chapter. Also to Damon, whose wonderful idea to translate to Essential Case File book is inspiring. 

Chapter three: Who said libraries are no fun?

After Hermione left with a sudden pop Bo marched gloomily to the kitchen only to find Shirley sitting on her seat, eating. He leaned on the doorframe, very much like she did only few moments ago. He studied her fondly, she was almost identical to the Shirley he carried in his memory all those years, but there were some small details that made her look different than he imagined she would as a grown woman. Her eyes still seemed to sparkle when she tried to solve some riddle in her head, but it was a different sparkle. In their school days, he remembered her getting intrigued by anything that was out of line, and if everything were as normal as things could be in a snobby private school, she would find a mystery there anyway. Now she seemed to be more bored and much less interested in what she did, he would find an article about her in the paper every now and then, and besides being described as outstandingly intelligent and bright she was also considered one of the biggest mysteries of human kind. He remembered reading, as a small child, that Sherlok Holmes took only the toughest and most bizarre cases of all those he was asked to investigate. And that was what made him happy, he supposed that Shirley did the same thing, but something in her look told him she wasn't pleased with her life. She lived for her investigation, he realized. Everything in her life had to do with the cases she took, if not for them she'd never meet him, never fall in love with Matt, never have her mother back- the list could go on and on. And that seemed to be right for the twelve years old girl he first met, but was it right for a thirty years old woman? But he hadn't got the time to pander on that thought. 

"Are you going to watch me for long?" He heard her ask suddenly. "We have a mystery to solve." 

He smiled stupidly, and shook his head. "No, I'm done starring." He conjured his best British accent. "Shall we head to the library, Holmes?"

****

"Wow." Was all Shirley said when the door to the Library opened. She looked around herself in awe, it was amazing; three walls of the room were covered in about fifty shelves and a huge table was placed in the middle of the room. Shirley paced around the table in order to study the room in more detail; it was cozy, warm, and though it was a little dark due to the great amount of dusty books it didn't make you fell claustrophobic. 

"Big isn't it?" Bo asked with a smile, a little pleased he could still shock his best friend.

"I'm not amazed at the size of it." Shirley marked sarcastically, "But at the fact you actually have a library in your home, Mr. I-am-so-over-with-books-when-I-get-out-of-school."

Bo blushed slightly. "It's for Hermione actually, I was trying to make her feel comfortable, and it sort of got three times bigger during the time she lives here."

"How long is that?" Shirley asked, walking around the room and examining the books.

"Two years." Bo answered offhandedly. "And I've been seeing her for a year before that, but she told me about magic only when I asked her to move in." He smiled to himself, and Shirley frowned. "Thought I should know she could turn me into a goat any second before I share my bed with her permanently." 

Shirley took a book out of the library and sat by the table opening it and starting reading. "Could you give me every book here that contains even the slightest mention of Harry's character and his life."

Bo shook his head and muttered. "You could always ask Hermione, why read?"

"She's not objective." Shirley answered coldly. "She's a suspect just like anyone else. After all, Harry disappear in her house."

"Shirley." Bo sounded outraged. "He's her best friend!" Shirley turned around and gave his a dubious look. Bo growled at her in frustration. "Besides, I was with her all the time, she's got an alibi, leave her in peace- she would never do it."

"You're her fiancéé, you're madly in love with her and will soon marry her. You could be covering up for her." She answered strictly. Bo opened his mouth to protest, but Shirley cut him. "By the way, give me all the books on wizard transformation as well."

Bo cursed, but knowing the argument was over anyway, as Shirley was drawn back into reading, he got up and started taking out the books she asked for.

After two hours there were thirteen books on Shirley's left side and seven on her right. She sighed while closing another book and putting in the pack on her right, but instead of taking silently another book from the first pack, like she did for the last seven times, she simply stared at Bo, who sat across from her, examining the riddle. 

"I'm done with the books on Harry." She informed him quietly.

Bo looked up to meet her eyes. "And?"

"He seems like a nice person, very brave, very noble." She pressed a finger to her forehead. "Yet shy, and humble. He's a hero, but hates publicity. Does the right thing just because it's _right_ .A tragic story with a happy ending."

"I could tell you that." Bo pointed out dryly. "You've just wasted two hours."

"Oh no, mon ami." Shirley said lightly. "On the contrary, I've learned tones you'd never would tell me. I've learned this Ron Weasley guy was Harry's best friend and also Hermione's boyfriend." Bo flinched at her words, but she continued. "They were a famous bunch, articles were written about the three of them and from what I understand the media was very much aware of Ron and Hermione's love life. They had a very well covered break up as well." She raised an eyebrow at Bo.

"I don't care who knew about it, or what the papers wrote." Bo said harshly, standing loudly and walking around the room. "He cheated on her, not once and not twice. And you know what she did? She took him back every time. That slimy bastard, he doesn't deserve her friendship, or love."

"Right." Shirley said, trying to keep her voice steady, the way Bo defended Hermione and cared for her hurt her more than she cared to realize. "He cheated on Hermione and also he seemed to be very jealous of Harry…" She looked up at Bo, only to meet his eyes staring at her with horror.

"You think… he did it? Abducted his own best friend?" He asked quietly.

"I don't know… Jealousy can drive you to drastic means sometimes…"

"Does that mean Hermione is in danger?" Bo asked suddenly. "Because she's going to meat him now, and…"

"Bo." Shirley said strictly. "She may be in danger, but I doubt it… From what I read he declares he still loves Hermione, he would never hurt her."

The thing is, Shirley thought to herself, if he's acting on jealousy Bo might be in danger…

"No…" Bo said silently, drawing Shirley's attention back to the talk. "It can't be. I mean, he's a bastard and all, and one of my least favorite people on earth, but still… There's a difference between cheating on your girlfriend and kidnapping your best friend."

Shirley shrugged and sighed. "There's also this You-Know-Who business, which I can't really understand." 

"What business you said?" Bo asked, puzzled.

"You-Know-Who." Shirley repeated.

"No, that's the thing-I don't know who." Bo answered, still clueless. "Could you be a little more specific?"

"No, I can't." Shirley answered, annoyed. "It's his name, or at least it's what written in the book. He's also mentioned as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" 

"Why mustn't he be named? I don't know what you mean…" Bo started saying but was cut.

"I know. The book means Voldemort." Bo turned around to see Sirius standing a few feet away from him, looking confident and nervous at the same time.

"Voldemort?" stbetween Shirley and Sirius. "He's dead, Shirley, Harry defeated him long ago. There's no chance he can come back again, is there?" He looked worriedly at Sirius. Bo's heard enough from Hermione to know what Voldemort's name meant and also that whenever Voldemort's name is mentioned it's a good reason to worry.

"No, he's gone for good." Sirius answered gravely. "But there are still Death Eaters who walk free, but the chances they would do anything now…" He trailed off and sighed deeply. "It may be a Death Eater, using Dark magic, but he wouldn't do it as revenge. No one would face the man who defeated the dark lord." 

"Wait a second…" Shirley said. took the riddle from Bo and read silently rethinking it over and over again, trying to make every piece of information to settle in the right place. "It has to do with Dark magic, look at the difference between 'The man who forced the Darkness fade' and what Mr. Black just said." She looked up to meet both men's gazes. "I think we found our first clue." 

"And we get… What?" Bo asked, staring at his friend.

"The fact Dark Magic was involved." 

"Wrong." Pointed out Bo. "Dark intentions and Dark means are two different things." He looked at Sirius for support. "It always could be a trap."

"No…" Sirius said slowly. "I think she's right. Why would someone send this riddle if he wanted to misguide us? It's supposed to be a challenge."

"So this is some sick game?" Bo asked, obviously disgusted.

"Maybe, maybe…" Shirley answered thoughtfully. "But how can we find out the identity of the kidnapper? Those clues…" 

"I say we find Harry first." Sirius pointed out. "The 5th and the 6th lines –that's where we should look."

Bo read the lines aloud. "A mother's spell, A curse, A love, A fight, A light, A scar, Tears and ruins and Trust long Lost." He frowned at Sirius. "Most of it is too general."

"And the rest of it talks of things that happened twenty years ago." Sirius agreed.

"What do you mean?" Shirley asked.

Sirius sighed deeply. "We should sit down." The three of them sat around the table and Sirius began talking. "You see, about three decades ago, a big war started in the wizarding world, it was against a wizard name Voldemort. He was one of the most cruel and heartless Dark wizards that stood up, and it didn't help much that he was extremely bright. By the time my co-students and me grew up and graduated, he was at the climax of his activity. At the time we were a group of a few young people; indeed young, even too young, and positive we could make the world better, and that we would be the ones to change the course of the war."

Sirius sighed again and looked down at his hands. "Each and every one of us fought in that war some way or another. James, that's Harry's father, being from one of the known and respected wizard families always stood out in everything he did. Thus he and his family became a convenient target."

"He, his wife Lily and Harry, who was only a year old at the time, went into hiding. They placed a very complicated spell to defend themselves, it's very hard to explain, all you need to know is that the information of their whereabouts was kept in the mind and heart of one single soul which would not reveal the information unless he or she truly wanted to."

Sirius looked down silently, Bo stood up and went out of the room. He came back quickly holding a glass of some purple, bizarre liquid and handed it to Sirius with a comforting smile.

Sirius looked up at him and smiled wryly. "Thank you." He said, though Shirley didn't fail to see the track of tears. "I see Hermione taught you well." 

Bo nodded grimly and tried to smile as well. "She was very persistent about keeping this stuff around, I just wish we'd never had to use it."

"Yes." Sirius agreed silently, and then looked back at Shirley. "Those days were very difficult ones. There was so much killing, so much violence- everywhere. You didn't know who to trust back then. Remus… He has his own problems and he was drifting away from our group then, barely ever talking to any of us… He always looked tired, and never answered us when he asked him why- but that's Remus he's very controlled. It sometimes seems he's a cold person, but he isn't, he's actually one of the warmest and most caring humans I've met, but he'd never think his problems are important and would never make anything that he considers as becoming a burden. He's never think he's important enough. "

"But foolishly I though his behavior was sign that he kept secrets, and somehow I've decided he wasn't to be trusted… That left only Peter and me. I let everyone know I was to be the secret keeper, but the spell was performed on Peter instead. I thought it was the perfect bluff, but obviously I was wrong. Peter betrayed James and Lily to Voldemort. Voldemort found James and Lily and killed them. Harry survived, thanks to a charm Lily put on him before dying. Voldemort lost all his powers and vanished for twelve years, leaving Harry in a burned house, the only evidence of their fight is a lightening shaped scar Harry has on his forehead till today. It was widely known I was the only one who knew where James and Lily had been. No one believed me when I tried to tell people the truth so I was sent to Azkaban, which's a wizard prison. Remus kept wandering around the world, trying to live without the only people he cared about, trying to forget everything he knew because it was too painful." 

"And then?" Shirley asked.

"Twelve years later Voldemort came back. I escaped from Azkaban and Remus was called back as well. There were a few years of fighting, but in the age of 17, with the help of Hermione, Ron and Ginny, Harry managed to conquer Voldemort for good. Since then things got better and better." He smiled wryly. "Each of us carries scars from our past, but it's not as painful as it once was…" 

Shirley looked pensive. While Bo just sat and stared down at the table, he looked up and met Shirley's eyes. "That's it, isn't it? It's all there…" 

"Except the light." Shirley answered him.

"Yes." Sirius agreed quietly. "The light. I've been wondering about it. And I seem to be unable to place this word anywhere. If it's about Dark Magic, what light could they possibly mean."

"Well, what about…" Bo started to say but was cut by a loud pop.

Shirley looked at the direction where the sound came from and jumped at the sight. In front of her stood a young man, not older than sixteen, he was tall and lean, he looked like every other teen Shirley saw lately, except for his eyes, which shown in an amazing bright blue. He was holding some vase, and looking around the room, his eyes stopped on Shirley and he smiled stupidly.

"H…Hello…" He said, still smiling broadly.

"Holly crap." Bo muttered at him. "Josh, what are you doing here?"

The boy looked at him. "Sorry, Bo, mum and Herm asked me to come and tell you dad isn't feeling well after last night and that he would stay home."

"And Remus said?" Sirius inquired.

"He's asleep, Kath thinks mum dragged him so he'd stay home and rest."

"Josh." Bo asked frowning. "What's the vase for?" 

The boy scowled. "Portkey. Honestly, Bo, you need floo network here…"

Shirley cleared her throat. "A port-key?"

"Wizards' transformation." Sirius answered. "Getting transformed from one place to another touching an object. But it connects only too ends."

Shirley looked at Bo. "Hermione didn't tell me about it."

"Maybe she didn't have time. Or think Sirius will." Bo answered calmly and Shirley frowned.

"Yes, fascinating." Sirius said dryly. "What about the light?"

Josh took the riddle from the table and read it. He smiled at them all. "You don't know?" He asked.

"And you do, Joshua?" Sirius raised an eyebrow. "I know you've got Ana's divinative powers, but…"

"No." Josh kept smiling. "It has nothing to do with it. It's just when Harry talked once to Beth and me he told us about his parents. He said that the only thing he remembered about that night until his 3rd year was a flash of green light." 

Sirius's eyes grew wide. "Of course!" He shouted. "It all has to do with the night when…" He looked at them. "I think I know where Harry is…"

"In the place where his parents di." Shirley finished the sentence. "Where is it?"

"Godric's hallow." Sirius said eagerly. "We need to go to the Borrow…"

"Wait a second." Bo said, looking from Sirius to Shirley. "What about the last line."

"True love and friendship will find what costs the most." Josh read aloud. 

"We need Harry's best friends and the person who loves him purely." Shirley said pensively. "That's Ginny, his best friends are Hermione and…"

"Ron." Bo finished gloomily.

Sirius sighed, his eyes shining with hope. "As I said, let's go to the Borrow…" 

A/N: This chapter wasn't beta read by anyone, including myself. I still would like to hear more ideas on who's behind all this. So far Molly and Draco are tied and I haven't even written their roles. I also loved the one person who said that it wasn't Harry they were after, but Hermione and it was Ron who wanted to get her away from Bo. All I can say is there's an idea it's not mine, but yours- go write it! 

To the guy/gal who wrote me an anonymous email, which I adored, flown with questions I was hoping people would ask. The answer to what kind of mystery is this and whether it's anything like some famous novels or stories is hidden in this chapter. And as to the second and third questions… I promise to answer them if you'll identify. 

Next chapter has some revelations, more suspects… Oh, and someone dies…


End file.
